‘Everything’ desktop search gets updated with cool new features

‘Everything’ is the kind of program that every geek loves, and is the first program that I install on every Windows machine. We first reviewed this program in 2009, and after a strange four year hiatus, it is finally being updated again, with beta versions coming out regularly. The beta version I tested (1.3.3.656b) is very exciting, and contains a lot of fixes and improvements which you will like a lot.

We’ve sung this program’s praises a lot on this site. It is the the kind of program that, once you start using it, becomes indispensible very quickly, and I’ve seen it frequently referred to as the desktop search that Microsoft should have preinstalled in Windows. What is special about ‘Everything’ is that it uses the Master File Table of the NTFS volume to build its database, which means that the results are almost instant as it doesn’t have to go out and scour your hard drive. It also means that it will only work on NTFS formatted drives, and will require administrator privileges to run.

Five things that I am LOVING about the new Everything beta

1. Filter results by type

‘Everything’ now comes with file type filters that you can place next to the search box as a dropdown. You can filter by the usual file types: images, videos, audio, folders, executables, etc. You can edit these or make your own, which brings us the next point …

2. Create custom filters (and create macros from them as well as keyboard shortcuts)

You can group several file types together to create your own filter, or use Regex and/or Everything’s improved search syntax. I created the ‘Not Folder’ filter which you can see in the dropdown above, for example, to eliminate folders from my results.

Further, you can use these user defined filters as ‘macros’ that can be used as custom functions, and that you could insert into the search string.

3. Much improved search and regex syntax

Giving your searches an enormous amount of flexibility and power. How about filtering your search results by those files that are read only, or have been created after a certain date, or are above or below a certain size, or all of these together. Very easy to do, with simple syntax.

The screenshot below shows a sampling. You can find it in the help section, and scroll up and down for more.

4. Runs without the UAC prompt

If you used the original ‘Everything’ then you’re accustomed to the UAC prompt flashing every time you used it. Not so with this new beta version.

Circumventing the UAC can typically be done by using the Windows task scheduler, but it doesn’t seem that it is the case here. So I actually am not sure how this is possible, because the program does access the NTFS Master File Table. If you have any ideas please share them in the comment.

I will say that I am glad not to have to deal with the prompt, though.

5. No more gibberish when you use ‘Everything’ from the context menu

Might seem like a small thing, and it is – but boy am I glad I don’t have to be deleting the string of gibberish that was always a mainstay of the original version, whenever you used the Windows right click context menu.

There are more welcome additions, such as the availability of a 64 bit version (finally), the option to bookmark files and folders, alternating row colors for results, and others.

The developers deserve credit for adding a lot of features while somehow preserving the simplicity of ‘Everything’ and keeping it free of clutter. Note that the new ‘Everything’ is still in beta, and may contain errors, etc.

Tried out the latest portable 64-bit version (needs to Run as admin manually), it still can’t find files in C:WindowsSystem32 on Windows 7 64-bit and Windows Server 2012. What is the point of the 64-bit build if it can’t fix this obvious compatibility issue? Heck, JAM Software UltraSearch and Glary Utilities Quick Search can do that without a native 64-bit version. Their only excuse is it’s a recent beta, but it’s not even feature complete.

rcastro0

This is always one of the first utilities I install on a new computer. I use it every day. I also use and like “RecentX”. RecentX is much slower than Everything, but it has a killer feature: it shows the most recent files (or folders) you opened/edited first on the search window. I would love to have that feature on Everything.

Anyway, thanks for letting me know about the new version. Will be downloading it right away. Good to hear they fixed the UAC thing. I figured out how to bypass it, but it was a chore.

Ahmed

You could possibly have the date modified column sorted to get that?

rcastro0

That works great. Thanks for the tip, Ahmed. For those who would like to replicate, and enable sorting by most recent files do this:

Menu Tools -> Options, then pick “General/Home” and look for the “Data Accessed (ascending)” in the “Sort” option.

Ahmed

Alternately you could simply click the column; i.e. click on “date modified” on top to have it sorted for you (either way – ascending / descending). It can be done for any column under most of well designed Windows apps.

rcastro0

Another awesome improvement in the new version: it is able to ignore accented characters. Before, “Apresentação” and “Apresentacao”, or “Hélio” and “Helio” would not be found as matching — now they do. Great!

Paul_Werner

What did you put as the setting for the ‘Not Folder’ filter to eliminate folders from your results? I’d like to do the same

Hooray, a new version of Everything! That’s good because I always thought it lacked a few options to narrow down searches. On the other hand, I sure don’t hope it gets bloated. For me the strenght of the program is that it is fast, straightforward and simple to use, and I think it should stay that way.

SenseWillPrevail

I still don’t find this as useful as you guys do. I get many files from colleagues where the titles are rubbish. For example “Intro (updated)” tells me nothing about what the update is and “Intro (updated) V2″ is just as bad, if not worse.

I need something that reads “keywords” (aka “tags”) so if the update was (say) “the code for the loo door has changed from 1234 to 4567″ then both those files could have the tag “Door code” and I’d find both in a search – Version 2 is usually newer than Version 1, so my hunting time would be down a lot. Just logging/searching file names is not really that helpful.

rcastro0

You are talking about another class of utilities, one that is exemplified by (now discontinued) “Google Desktop”. To each his own. The problem with looking within files is that lots more of “false positives” show up. Think about how large your HD is. Also, local indexes start to take a lot of space, a lot of time to build, and the search utility itself may become a memory hog,

Everything, OTOH, is light, instantaneous and always up-to-date. If it can’t find a file, it is not in the HD, period. With other programs it may be that it wasn’t reindexed, etc.

I understand the trouble with file names, but you may find that once you start to rely on them you will be more careful in naming (or renaming) files accordingly — if not, just search for a file extension and a “date modified” or “date accessed”…

Omni

Hi, thanks for the article – their website is down and wanted to update you. Do you happen to have any other recent sources? I’m only finding older versions.

Archit

i downloaded Everything from the site but i am unable to search anything.
I am using windows 8 64 bit
what may be the reason?

Recent Posts

This page contains a slideshow that uses Javascript. Your browser either doesn't support Javascript or you have it turned off. To see this page as it is meant to appear please use a Javascript enabled browser.